I have been playing rpg for some 13 years now, as a player and a narrator.
I bought Glorantha some 10 years ago I would say, still I have never manage
to play a single game session.
I had some problems at this time to find extensions like the one about the
Gloranthian deities, and as a result I just managed to put my greedy fingers
on two or three books, and I had the feeling that I was missing a great
game.
As in the same time my players were too lazy ( Oh Please, let's play
stormbringer or some Cthulhu, I already KNOW the background, and I
UNDERSTAND the rules.... ) to be interested in this game I just let the
subject drop to an end.
Mainly Glorantha has proved to be very useful to me as an inspiration source
for the other worlds I made my players jumped in, and also to expand the
rules of other chaosium games on a instant basis when I wanted a particular
event to have more dramatic effect on my players.
I was waiting for HW with expectation, and I must say it was worth the wait.
As a narrator, I have always been disapointed with the rules I used.
I wanted to be able to deal with the same task in different ways dependind
on the circumstances, and as a result when one of my player wanted to climb
a mountain, depending of the narrative impact it could be as simple as
'What's your score? Hu... Ok you have quite a hard time but you finally
manage to do it' or as boring as 'Make xx roles, ...' and describing every
result with my brain having a hard time to find some new way to present the
it each time...
First think I like with HW is that it is tailored to fit you narrative, and
you seem to always have a handy way to solve a situation ( Your discussions
about skirmishes and the way I should treat the Trollkins band as one entity
12/68 or as a group of followers or as 20 individuals were very interesting
from this point of view ).
Second, the rules of extended contest which are made for dramatic events do
not emphasize on result, but on the way the adversaries can perceive the ebb
and flow of the contest at hand ( 'Dear God, he managed to put off the lace
of my shirt, I will never be able to outfit this bastard' or 'After this
brilliant talk you feel shame as it's now obvious to anybody that your
feelings have shrouded your mind. You feel confused and reluctant to expose
once more' ). I like the idea that the characters cannot really know how
badly injured ( may it be physically or socialy ) they are until it's to
late, and that if they do they lose part of their focuse and become
hesitating.
Third I like the narrative creation process; no more we don't get what we
wanted, or I fumbled my roll can I try again, or my character is a jerk
comparing to his; Now, you have what you did, if you are not satisfied, just
work your narrative a bit more, that's great.
Fourth, the masteries; I had done my own system with mastery making you
change your kind of die, and contests being resolved by the opposing
characters rolling their own die ( D6 against D20.... frightening for my
players ), but it was too messy, and the HW mastery system is perfect for me
( Yes, Matthieu, now you can really play your weapon master musketeer and
act with bravado.
Fifth, I like the way scenarii are presented in the narrator's book, that's
the better formal way to present my own way to build scenarii and campaigns.
Enough, you understand my feelings...
The main point is I won't be able to play Runequest at this time because I
already have a Vampire and Gemini campaign, no more time, and players who
would go at my throat if I dare to stop those, but I will use all the HW
rules for these campaigns.
All of that to say: I like Glorantha as a world, but even without that HW is
great and the rules can be used for any other kind of world. I should tell
you more if you are interested ( not sure it's the right place, uh ?? )
That's it, I shall from now on discuss the rules and only the rules ;-)²
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